What is this photo? You might ask.
Look closely and you will see. It’s the Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (Comet C/2023 A3). It’s not the best photo but it is something to commemorate this special event. Tonight was very clear so we went “comet chasing”. Seemed like everyone had the same idea. With the sun setting, the “super moon” rising, comet appearing, it’s a night full of cosmic events. This particular comet is only visible every 80,000 years so it was important enough to pack all the kids for the evening.
Ironically we are having the brightest full moon of the year at the same time so it was a bit difficult to spot the comet but scanning with a binocular helped. It really was an exciting moment when we finally saw the tail. It made me audibly gasp! It’s so beautiful with a long tail. The coma (comet head) currently measures about 130,000 miles (209,000 kilometers) in diameter, accompanied by a tail stretching out for some 18 million miles (29 million km). The tail is quite long across the sky even with the naked eye, but it’s hard to imagine that it’s 18 million miles.
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS chasing in Anchorage, Alaska
We went to Point Woronzof Park, the best place to view not too far from us. It was already busy with the crowd of people wanting to catch a glimpse of this celestial event. In a place without light pollution, the photo would be better, although the moon will still be the same.
Dreaming about deep space, and looking up at the dark sky full of constellations, astronomy has been an important part of my life for a long time. I used to have photos of celestial objects around my room, never imagined I would see one of those one day. Who knew I would live in Alaska, where I could see the northern lights each winter, another event that I didn’t think I would see! I grew up reading about comets like Hale-Bopp, Shoemaker-Levy 9, and of course Halley’s Comet and now I have to add Tsuchinshan-ATLAS to the list.
Tsuchinshan-ATLAS will be visible for another 10 days or so. Tonight it was magnitude 3.8, which can be visible with the naked eye but the moon makes it a bit difficult. Look to the western sky (“Defying Gravity” reference) after sunset, in the Serpens constellation. It will move through Serpens and will be in Ophiuchus by the 19th. These aren’t the brightest constellations so you can use one of the astronomy apps to guide you. You can see the real-time information on this website. It’s pretty cool to see the comet flying away from us each second!
What an exciting night!
